New Sigma APO Lens ! Opinions

Whaaahey! Today I got a Sigma 70-300mm f4-f5.6 APO (yes apo - better quality glass) lens, for my Canon 300D. It seems to work fine on the camera, and seems well made, have any of you used APO lenses?, please tell me that they are very good (since it's now raining :roll: )

It's brand new, and hopefully I'll get a shot of the 3 planets together in the morning

:idea:

Keith..

Whaaahey! Today I got a Sigma 70-300mm f4-f5.6 APO (yes apo - better quality glass) lens, for my Canon 300D. It seems to work fine on the camera, and seems well made, have any of you used APO lenses?, please tell me that they are very good (since it's now raining :roll: )

I had the minolta (film) version of that lens and found it very good. I've seen prints from both the APO and non APO version and the beoth looked the same, however the slides lookes noticable better with the APO. So if you are enlarging images the APO should stand out.

Didnt go with it for the canon as I read some horror stories about issues with the sigma telephotos and canon cameras so opted for the canon f4 70-200 instead. Glad to hear yours is working correctly.

I've got an old version of that lens - 1994 vintage. It's not bad - very sharp - but can suffer from some light falloff in the corners. I also have a Minolta "beercan" 70-210 constant f4 lens and in tests (mine) the Sigma is sharper in the middle, but photos taken with the beercan look more natural. can't explain it better, but that's how it is.

P.

As Albert mentions above, some SIGMA lenses (especially older ones with a Canon EOS mount) do not work with the EOS digital cameras due to the current chip on them.

I have a very neat Sigma wideangle spherical lens but I have the problem of compatibility with my EOS 300d. Although the replacement of the problematic chip is for free, Sigma is out of replacement chips. :evil:

Anyway, I sincerely wish much success with the APO lens and will eagerly wait for your results. I wonder if one can get by with a small APO telescope such as a Takahashi FS-60 and/or FS-78. I have seen them advertised on Astromart for a very reasonable amount.

Hi Paul,

I have that exact lens 70-300mm F4-5.6 APO DG Macro, that the one you got. I fount it to be a super lens not just for astrophotography but for regular shots too.

I only got a chance to use it on the sky once. Here's the result (th north american nebula).

webtreatz.com/component/option,com_zoom/...geNo,5/key,39/hit,1/

The only thing I found is that during lenghty exposures the focus ring has a tendency to slip. I sorted this with a bit of sellotape just to make sure it doesn't move!

Good luck with the new lens. My opinion, a great buy.

I've got an old version of that lens - 1994 vintage.

Ahh just saw this bit. Yes you will almost certainly have problems as Anthony suggests:( What will happen is that the camera reports 'err99' and locks up. You need to reset the camera to begin again. However if you turn off the auto focus and most importantly (DO NOT try to change the aperture value) then you can avoid this message. The error occurs when the new 300D trys to interface to the older firmware on the lens which is incompatible.